Meaning of 罪
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- guilt
- crime
- fault
- blame
- sin
- variant of 罪[zui4], crime
How to use 罪
罪 appears mostly in compounds like 犯罪 (fànzuì, to commit a crime), 罪犯 (zuìfàn, criminal) and 有罪 (yǒuzuì, guilty). It can also mean suffering or hardship in the set phrase 受罪 (shòuzuì). Example: 他被判有罪。(Tā bèi pàn yǒuzuì.) He was found guilty.
罪 has a net 罒 on top and 非 (fēi, wrong) below. Picture a net coming down to catch someone who did something wrong, and you have a crime.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 罪犯 (zuìfàn, criminal) and 犯罪 (fànzuì, to commit a crime). The order matters, because 罪犯 is a person and 犯罪 is the act. Also do not confuse 罪 with 醉 (zuì, drunk), which has the same sound but uses the wine radical 酉.
罪 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
罪 zuì · guilt · 13 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 罪.
| 犯罪 | fànzuì | to commit a crime; crime; offense |
| 罪恶 | zuì'è | crime; evil |
| 罪犯 | zuìfàn | criminal |
| 得罪 | dézuì | to commit an offense; to violate the law |
| 罪魁祸首 | zuìkuí-huòshǒu | (idiom) criminal ringleader; main offender; main culprit; main cause of a disaster |
| 有罪 | yǒuzuì | guilty |
| 罪行 | zuìxíng | crime; offense |
| 罪名 | zuìmíng | charge; accusation; stigma; bad name; stained reputation |
| 犯罪现场 | fànzuìxiànchǎng | scene of the crime |
| 认罪 | rènzuì | to admit guilt; to plead guilty |
| 无罪 | wúzuì | innocent; guileless |
| 罪人 | zuìrén | sinner |
Questions about 罪
What does 罪 mean?
罪 (zuì) means "guilt; crime" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 罪?
罪 is made of 1 character: 罪 (13 strokes). That is 13 strokes in total.
Is 罪 an HSK word?
Yes. 罪 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 得罪 mean in everyday speech?
In daily life 得罪 (dézuì) usually means to offend or upset someone, not to break the law. For example, 我不想得罪他 (Wǒ bù xiǎng dézuì tā) means I don't want to offend him.
Can 罪 mean sin in a religious sense?
Yes. 罪 covers both legal crime and moral or religious sin. In Christian contexts, 原罪 (yuánzuì) means original sin.